Maria's Adventures: Transformers!
by FourthWallBreaker
Summary: Maria and her brother are called to a world with characters both familiar and unfamiliar, but in the process, they stumble across something that may affect not only them, but others who had been connected to them...(summary may change; story will not).
1. Another Vision

**Here's the fifth installment of Maria's Adventures. Scribe handed it over while I was stuck on the third installment - Capcom Kingdom - and it put the Khrista Chronicles nearly on hold. I think watching Transformers: Prime episodes in my free time (over Spring Break 2013 April) sped that up.**

**Scribe: *pokes her head in* Gee, Nexus, ya think?**

**Me: Scribe, you're not helping. Anyway, timeline-wise, this is taking place during Khrista's third time off-world - sometime around mid-summer, and it starts sometime between "Stronger, Faster" and "One Shall Fall" - meaning that Maria arrives there after Ratchet's little Synth-En fiasco, but long before the whole first season finale. (Even though a couple events may have gotten a little mixed up beforehand and afterwards...) I still haven't figured out the timing in between each of the chronicled bits of world-jumping craziness, but we are getting there.**

**Scribe: It doesn't help that you and and the others talk about the stories themselves more than the timing between them. Speaking of time, we're going to be using these Cybertronian terms for time once in a while, so here's the estimated translations that were already used in a different story:**

**Giga-Cycle:** 100 years

**Tera-Cycle:** 10 years

**Orbital-Cycle:** 1 year

**Vorn: **month

**Mega-Cycle:** week

**Solar-Cycle (or just plain Cycle):** day

**Breem:** hour

**Klik:** minute

**Nano-Klik:** second

**Me: Hey, I was going to do that! Oh, well. Anyway, here you go: the first chapter of the Transformers saga!**

**Chapter 1 - Another Vision**

A girl with light brown hair and blue eyes let out a yawn as she came downstairs, her nose twitching. "Is that bacon I smell?"

"Yup!" A brown-haired, blue-eyed young man grinned at as the girl entered the kitchen. "Morning, Maria. Or, should I say, sleeping beauty."

Maria snorted. "Sleeping beauty yourself, Matt. How is it you're up earlier than I am? It's only seven in the morning in June."

"I felt like getting up before everyone else for a change." Maria's brother placed a plate of bacon on the kitchen table. "I suppose you're fully charged up?"

"Why else would I be up?" Maria snatched a piece of bacon off the plate with a white-gloved hand, giving her brother a suspicious look. "Why would you mention that, anyway? You haven't told anyone, have you?"

Matthew snorted. "Now why would you believe that?"

"I know you well enough to know that your normal habits are changed only when something is wrong or you're keeping a secret." Maria got up on her toes, her red shoulder guards glinting in the light as she tried to get some eye contact with her taller, older brother. "What did you do?"

Matthew's blue eyes sparked, the smirk that had been on his face disappearing into a serious expression. "It's not what I did - it's what a friend did. The Langstroms - the ones across the street - told me a few days ago that their daughter has gone missing."

Maria arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Khrista? Missing?" She frowned. "Well, that would explain why Joshua hasn't called to set up that virtual video game tournament he wanted to fight me in..." She shook her head. "They're probably participating in a tournament back on the Pokemon world."

"Could be. But according to them, she hasn't been gone for this long before, and Joshua actually disappeared into the woods for one reason or another." Matthew shrugged. "You want to try and check it out?"

The Reploid paused for a moment before shaking her head. "Wherever Khrista is, she's probably fine." Maria tossed the bacon into her mouth and swallowed. "You saw her in action, anyway. There's no way that she could possibly be defenseless in any world."

"And you are certainly piled up on defense." Matthew tapped Maria's orange-colored armored chest, prompting a chuckle from his sister. "You know, I was pretty surprised when you showed your armor to us that first time. Who knew my sister was a robot, right?"

"That's _Reploid_," Maria corrected. "If you want to meet Dr. Light personally, I can arrange a meeting between the two of you."

"Really? You could do that?"

"My portals can transfer more than one person. I brought everybody back from Neo-Mobius. I can get you to Neo-Earth, or bring him back here."

"Nah, I'm good. He's probably got his hands full with the bots." Matthew looked out a nearby window. "So, have you had any of those vision things you mentioned?"

Maria shook her head. "I think it's because there's nothing really going on that I need to give any attention to. The last _actual_ day-vision I had from it was back in the Nintendo Kingdom, right before we arrested Saturn and what remained of the Galactic goons. Course, that was before any of us realized that Cyrus had done something to Giratina..."

"Hey, no one expected that," Matthew stated. "And the only reason you didn't get messed up in that was because of what was going on over on Light's planet. At least the Lake Trio had some sense in getting somebody else."

"And Khrista performed admirably." Maria smirked. "Merlin and Chaos filled in the blanks when I would ask them to pop by. It's pretty incredible, really, how they managed to set that plan in motion."

"Have you told her yet?"

Maria gave her brother a look. "Told her?"

"About what happened on Capcom. You know, what we found out in that video we got a few days ago?"

Maria blinked, then let out a sigh. "No, I haven't. I don't have a reason to, mainly because I don't have to at this point in time. Khrista doesn't need to know."

"That statement will probably come and bite you in the back when you need her most," Matthew warned teasingly.

"Ha ha, veeery funny." Maria grabbed another piece of bacon, then made a change in the subject. "Dr. Light thinks my White Flare attack could reach levels of heat that could match a volcano. He's probably right."

"Now, that's one thing I don't understand." Matthew sat down at the table, fiddling with a piece of bacon. "How'd you get the fire powers, Collin become into a living generator, and Liz is some sort of water user, while I have nothing going for me?"

Maria shrugged, then sat down as well. "Mom and Dad didn't have anything like that, so I don't know how I got it. It's weird, really. I can't help but wonder if there's more to our family than meets the eye..."

Within her chest, there was a sudden surge of energy from the Atlantean Crystal that powered her robotic form. Maria let out a gasp of surprise as something that definitely wasn't her home's kitchen filled her vision.

_A tall, dark figure stood in what appeared to be a forested area, the strange figure's eyes glowing a deep, dangerous red as they stared - seemingly into Maria's soul. More figures soon appeared, each with their eyes glowing that same deep red shade. The fog that surrounded the area began to slowly clear, revealing a destroyed city just past the trees. Above, in the sky, the clouds formed a strange formation - the tip of a plane, only with a face attached that seemed to be glaring down at the world below, other clouds wrapping themselves around it. The figures in front of Maria became revealed, as well, causing the Reploid to gasp in shock..._

Maria let out a gasp as the vision ended, collapsing against the table with a _clang!_ and a groan.

"What just happened?" Matthew asked. "It looked like you were staring off into space."

"A vision," Maria replied. "Of a bad future on another planet. Or, perhaps, an event to come that could change the set course of history." She looked at her brother, still breathing heavily after what she had seen. "Do you remember when I was looking into those stories on the FanFiction website? The ones with the giant robots that I wouldn't have found without going into the tournament?"

Matthew gave his sister a strange look. "Uh...yeah. Of course I remember you talking about those. Why?"

"That's what was in the vision. I think that the good guys in that world need my help."

"Them? Need you?" Matthew shook his head. "I find that hard to believe. What could robot titans like the ones you described to us need you for?"

"Keeping them from going completely to the dark side - or maybe something worse." Maria got up from the table. "The robots there keep their existence a secret to the rest of the Earth - except for a select few who aren't a part of their American government-people. If I remember correctly from what I've seen off the Internet already, there's a group that seems intent on taking them out. They could spell trouble for the good guys."

"So, you're saying that you're going to head out to their world?"

Maria nodded. "I was given this crystal," she said, tapping her chest, "as well as the gift to see visions of what has happened - my Dimensional Scream, if you will. It's predicted things perfectly so far, and I'm not going to _not_ trust it this time." She took a couple steps away from her brother. "You may want to stand back."

"Wait a sec." Matthew grabbed one of Maria's metallic arms. "Why don't I come with you? The only place I've been to is that Pokemon planet, and I haven't traveled anywhere since."

Maria gave her brother a curious look. "I don't want to get you into any danger, Matt. Who knows what sort of dangers could become involved?"

"I helped take Cyrus out. What could be worse?"

"Getting incinerated by an enemy attack? Or torn to shreds by their clawed talons?" Maria didn't sound worried as she listed these off to her brother, as these could only cause minor injuries to her. "I don't think that you getting involved would be such a good idea... Besides, what would Mom and Dad think if _you_ disappeared?"

Matthew's shoulders sagged slightly at the thought of their parents, but then he smirked and straightened. "We could write out a note, you know. That's what Liz did when she left last time."

Maria flinched slightly at remembering what had happened, then frowned. "You just want to go somewhere, don't you?"

"I really want to go," Matthew replied, nodding vigorously. "Besides, I haven't been anywhere else other than...well, you know."

Maria frowned, hesitant, but then gave a slow nod. "Well, I guess you can come along...but be careful, all right? We're going somewhere I know nothing about, so who knows _what's_ going to happen."

Matthew gave a nod, then dashed into another room. He returned a few minutes later with a page torn out of a notebook and his quick, neat handwriting on it in big letters: "Left with Maria for another world. Be back soon. - Matthew"

"You know that 'soon' is pretty much a relative term, right?" Maria asked as Matt put the paper on the table.

Matthew shrugged. "You're gone for two days to a full week. They'll have an idea about how long we'll be out of here."

Maria eyed her brother for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right." She held her right hand out in front of her and mimed shooting a gun, causing a small orb of blue energy to appear and expand into a human-sized portal.

"That's new," Matthew remarked, raising an eyebrow.

Maria shrugged. "I've been trying new styles or portal-summoning. I'm going to need something iconic since my staff's gone."

Matthew started toward the portal, looking back at his sister. "Well, I don't think that one's going to work."

"If you say so," Maria replied, grinning. She quickly followed after her brother, stepping into the portal not too long after he had disappeared from sight.

Seconds later, the portal winked out of existence in the kitchen...at the same time that footsteps could be heard on the stairs.

**Another story begun, and a mysterious vision revealed. Maria's world knows nothing about the Transformers (poor, Reploid - she's missing out)!**

**As for why I dropped this in the JLA area, as well...well, you guys'll figure it out when I post more chapters. This story isn't done yet, but I'm confident enough in what I have so far that I can start posting every other week or so. My uploading schedule is going to get more hectic as school starts, but there really isn't anything that can be done about that.**

**So, see you guys later!**


	2. Introductions

**Hello! I'm posting this from my new dorm in college! Classes start tomorrow, so I thought I may as well post this before I disappear from the face of the internet to get used to my new schedule.**

**eclipse: Wow, you're following my stories even though you know little about what I'm writing? That's really commendable! Just to warn you, though - some things may end up being a bit confusing, so if you can't figure out anything, I'd suggest looking up the episodes for TF:Prime. They are online - that's how I've managed to see them, since I don't have the Hub accessible at my house...**

**Anyway! Onto this new chapter!**

**Chapter 2 - Introductions**

"So, you're saying that you _want_ to try and find the Decepticons?" The male teenager gave the girl a look of shock. "Are you insane?!"

"Jack, if we can find out where their ship is, then the Autobots can go and storm the place!" the dark-haired girl replied sourly. "Why not go and look for them?"

"You've already gotten yourself into trouble trying to do this sort of thing, Miko," a little boy scolded, adjusting his glasses. "If we get found by a Decepticon out here, then they'll use us as a way to draw the Autobots into a trap!"

"Oh, don't be such a scaredy-cat, Raf," Miko responded, forging ahead through the bushes. "We'll be fine. The Decepticreeps probably aren't around...here." She stopped short, staring out into a nearby clearing. "Oh, scrap."

"What is it?" Raf asked. The two boys came up behind Miko, their eyes widening upon seeing the sight that was before them.

A giant, silver-and-red robot with what appeared to be jet wings on his back and what looked like high heels on his feet was angrily looking around. Behind him was what seemed to be the smoking remains of a stash of some sort of fuel.

"Great. Starscream," Jack muttered. "I told you that doing this was a bad idea."

"Then why'd you follow me?" Miko demanded

"To get you back to where Ratchet can Ground Bridge us back to base!"

Somewhere behind them, a branch snapped, causing the kids' heads to turn.

...It also caught Starscream's attention.

"Eh? Who's there?" The Transformer looked over in the kids' direction, and his red optics widened. "Humans!" He dashed for the three kids, only for the trio to start running into the trees. "Get back here, Earthling scum!"

Jack dashed forward, motioning for the other two to follow him as they tried to keep away from the crazy Decepticon. Fortunately, the forest provided them more time, slowing down Starscream's movements. Unfortunately, this only made the Cybertronian angrier.

"This way!"

The kids' heads turned, catching sight of a human figure waving in the distance. Seeing as the way over to the figure made Starscream's path more difficult, the three took advantage of this and dashed over to where the human was standing,

"Are you three all right?" The eighteen-year-old, dark-haired boy in a dark-blue short-sleeve and jeans asked.

"Not for long," Jack replied. "We've got to move - now!"

The boy looked at what was behind them, his blue eyes wide. "I see what you mean! Let's go!" He turned and jumped over a rock, dashing deeper into the forest. The other kids, not seeing much else of a choice, followed the stranger.

"So, what are your names?" The eighteen-year-old asked as they continued to run into the forest.

"Jack," Jack stated. "The other two are Miko and Raf."

"Pleasure. Name's Matthew - call me Matt. I was...hiking in the area when I heard that thing yelling. What was that?"

"A Decepticon!" Miko shouted back.

Matt's eyes widened, and he blinked in confusion. "Decepticon?" he repeated. "What's that?"

"An evil robot from the planet Cybertron," Raf explained hurriedly. "They shoot first, ask questions never. Especially Starscream."

Matt's eyes narrowed at this. "In that case, we'd better find some help."

"Your kind of help wouldn't work." Matt looked at Jack. "You need a Cybertronian to take a Cybertronian. Preferably an Autobot."

Matt gave Jack a curious look. "And you know about this stuff _how_?"

"...We have a few friends." Jack's face paled. "Oh, great..."

The group stopped short in front of a rocky cliff, finding themselves trapped in a dead end.

"This is why you don't go after the Autobots and try to help, Miko," Jack stated, turning to look at the foreign-exchange student.

The golden-eyed girl stuck her tongue out in response to this. "You just don't like to get into the action."

"Ah-ha! Got you!" Starscream came to a halt in front of the group of humans. "Now I can use you as a way to get the Autobots to surrender...yes...then Lord Megatron will be pleased with me!"

"You'll have to go through me, first." Matt moved in front of the other three, causing them to look at him in surprise.

Starscream laughed. "You're nothing to me, human! I can take you on without wasting a drop of Energon!"

Matt's eyes narrowed. He knew that what the 'Decepticon' said was probably right, but he wasn't going to just go down without a fight...even if he was tossed into this without any sort of experience with the robots that Maria had mentioned. These kids - who were obviously friends with the good guys (did they call them 'Autobots'?) - needed to be protected.

In his chest, it felt like Matt had suddenly unlocked a large store of energy, because something - most likely adrenaline - was pumped into his arms. Instinctively, he held his hands in a familiar stance, holding a sphere of air in front of him. A blue glow suddenly erupted from the space between his hands.

"Take this!" Matt threw a ball of glowing blue energy at the Decepticon, hitting the robot's right wing.

"Gah!" Starscream, surprisingly, stumbled backward, then looked at his smoking wing, shock appearing on his face.

"How did you do that?" Miko asked, giving Matt a curious look.

"I'm...not sure." Matt looked down at his hands, which glowed for a moment longer before turning back to normal. _Is this what she feels when she uses Fire Sphere?_ "Let's see if I can do it again." He got into the stance once more and tried to concentrate on gathering energy into that space again...only for nothing to happen. "What is this?!"

Starscream glared at Matt, chuckling a little. "My, my. You would certainly be a good asset to Megatron's forces...yes, perfect!" He started forward, now ignoring the dent in the wing - and most likely the pain that was there, as well. Before he could grab Matt, however, a blur of yellow and black landed on top of the Decepticon.

Raf's eyes widened in delight. "Bumblebee!"

The robot let out a beep in response, then jumped back as Starscream started to get up, growling curses in Cybertronian under his breath.

"You are going to pay for that, Autoscum," the Decepticon snarled.

Bumblebee responded with a few clicks, whirs, and beeps, which the robot-jet instantly took as an insult, and the Decepticon barreled into the Autobot with the intent of taking him out.

"You kids should know better than to go off like that!"

Matt and the others looked up, catching sight of a slim robot figure in dark blues and purples, a streak of pink in the center of its head.

"Sorry, Arcee," Jack apologized. "But we had to go after Miko!" The mentioned girl stuck her tongue out at Jack. "And then we found Matt..."

Arcee jumped down in front of them while Starscream continued to battle Bumblebee through the trees. "Oh, great. Not another one."

"I, uh...take it you're not pleased to see me," Matt noted. He did his best to keep down his surprise upon seeing a _girl_ robot, but shock at seeing another robot still showed. "What are you guys, anyway? I haven't seen you around here before."

"We'll explain when we get back to base." Arcee pointed out past the cliff, towards an opening. "There's a Ground Bridge over there. Go. We'll cover you!" With that, she turned into a motorcycle and zoomed off after Starscream and Bumblebee.

"Come on!" Jack ran in the direction Arcee had pointed. "We have to get out of here!"

Matt swallowed his surprise and nodded, still feeling like there was adrenaline pumping through him. Running after Jack and the others, he asked, "What's a Ground Bridge?"

"It's how the Autobots manage to get from place to place," Raf explained. "It's pretty much a giant-robot-sized teleporter."

"Does it work for people of our size?" Matt didn't bother keeping the nervousness out of his voice.

"We've been through it tons of times before," Miko replied with a shrug. "I don't see why it would hurt."

"So, you have no idea where that power came from?" Raf asked as the group broke out of the trees.

Matt shook his head. "That's never happened before. I've known people who have unusual abilities, but I never expected myself to gain them..."

"Maybe you came out of that big explosion in Dakota," Miko suggested.

Matt frowned. "Dakota? What do you mean?"

"About a year and a half ago, there was this explosion in the docks of a city on the shore of Lake Michigan," Jack explained. "There've been rumors of kids with unusual powers coming from there."

Matt's frown deepened, and he shook his head. "I didn't come from that city." _If that cartoon is a part of this world, as well... Maria had better not have been flung to the other side of the world._

He caught sight of something in the distance, and his eyes widened slightly. "Is that the Ground Bridge thing you told me about?" He pointed to a swirling portal of green, with flecks of red and blue also in the mix.

"That's it!" Jack picked up his pace, the others following suit. "We're almost there."

"Oh no, you don't."

Starscream landed in front of them from out of nowhere, Arcee and Bumblebee dashing in front of the Bridge and behind Starscream.

"Either you come quietly with me, or I'll blast you!" Starscream screeched.

"It seems to me that we'll get blasted either way," Matt muttered. He desperately wished that he could have that power reactivated. "Come on...come on...where's that power surge?!" He tried to gather his power again, only for nothing to happen._ I should probably call it an Aura Sphere - that _is_ what it looks like._

Starscream laughed. "You really think that attack will beat me so easily?"

Behind him, a figure emerged from the Ground Bridge.

"Hey, Starscream."

The Decepticon's head turned, only to find himself punched backward a few hundred feet by a gigantic green wrecking ball.

"Kids, run!" the green robot yelled.

Not needing to be told twice, the group of four humans dashed the remaining feet to the Ground Bridge, disappearing into the swirling vortex, the Autobots following behind.

**Spacial Break**

Maria looked around at her surroundings, taking in the fact that one: she had been dropped into the middle of a human city; two: her brother was nowhere to be seen; and three: super-powered teens were going on a rampage right in front of her nose. And not just any super-powered teens. The Reploid could see a certain shadow-made figure among them. It was even worse because the sky looked like it was about to burst and go into a downpour.

"Well, since I can't make use of the one..."

Maria was about to drop her holographic disguise of normal clothes - orange jacket, red shirt, jeans, and white shoes with red stripes - when lightning flashed and struck the shadowy figure directly, prompting a yell of rage from the young man.

"Bulls-eye!"

Maria looked up in surprise at the sound of the voice, catching sight of an African American boy wearing a costume colored in purples, blacks, and yellows. The front of his black shirt had a lightning-bolt like insignia in yellow. He was also riding a circular piece of metal that was covered in electricity.

"Hey, Ebon! Get back here!" the boy yelled when the shadow figure started to move out of sight. The costumed teenager promptly flew after him, leaving a trail of purple sparks in the air.

"Ebon?" Maria questioned. Her eyes widened, only for the Reploid to gain a deflated look seconds later. "Oh, great." She let out a sigh. "May as well make the most of it." She dashed forward, her Buster appearing under her hologram, but remaining unseen to the naked eye. "Hey, kid! Need some help?"

The costumed boy looked down in her direction, taking note of the clothes Maria was wearing.

"Look, as much as I would like it, I don't think you getting in on this would be such a good idea," the boy stated with a motion that clearly said "stay back." "Just steer clear, and let me and Gear handle this!" The boy took off without another word, firing more electricity at Ebon while a figure with fiery hair was looking up at the sky nervously before trying to find some shelter before the rain started.

Maria's eyes narrowed. "All right, then." She aimed her right arm at a figure flying above the costumed boy - a teenage girl with wings for arms - and let loose a normal shot from her Buster. To the Reploid's delight, the attack managed to hit the girl in her left wing, bringing her down.

A boy dressed in green (who had been running around in the background) caught the girl and wrapped her up in what appeared to be metallic tentacles from a small sphere that had already been in his hand.

"Hey, Static!"

The African American teen turned his head slightly to the other boy as he dodged an attack from Ebon.

"Did you take down Talon?" the boy in green asked, looking up at his friend in confusion.

"No way! Can't you see that I've got my hands full?" Static zapped the shadow again, prompting a yell from Ebon. "We'd better wrap this up - that rain's going to be coming soon, and I do _not_ want to be caught in it!"

Maria smirked, then started to fire more shots at the red-haired boy and Ebon, finally catching the boys' attention when an especially large shot of energy hit Ebon in the gut.

"Unless you're planning on sticking around, then we'd better get out of here!" Maria called. Secretly, she was delighted to be able to meet one of the characters that she had been always fond of, but she really needed to find her brother before he got himself into trouble.

Static flew over to where Maria stood as the other boy started to throw the spheres at the other kids, putting them in the same situation as Talon. "Were you the one who was firing off those shots?"

Maria nodded as she felt her Buster morph back into her right hand - not that the boys could see it, of course. "Name's Maria White. I saw the commotion and decided to see if I could help you guys out."

"Well, you really didn't need to." The other boy - Gear, Maria remembered Static calling him - came over ant stood next to the super-powered teen. "We had things handled."

"Uh-huh. Two against three doesn't seem particularly fair, if you ask me." Her head turned slightly as the sound of sirens approached when the rain started to fall in small droplets. "You guys have a place to keep dry? I'm kind of passing through and I don't have any relatives in the area."

Static and Gear looked at each other.

"There is a place where you can stay," Static replied. "Come on - I can take you there before I get shorted out." He held to his hand as an invitation for Maria to climb up.

Maria shook her head. "Thanks, but I can handle my own transportation." She gave the mental command for her boosters to activate. A second later, she had taken to the air, mentally thanking Dr. Light for the flight upgrade so that she could go about on her own.

Especially since she didn't know how interacting with Static would affect her robotic form.

Static's jaw dropped as he and Gear stared at Maria in surprise. A moment later, the Reploid heard Gear's backpack-computer reporting what she had covering her body from the neck down.

Gear frowned. "Ok...What's with the armor?"

"Armor?" Static gave his friend a look of confusion. "I don't see any armor."

"I can explain on the way," Maria replied calmly. "Are we going or not?"

The two boys looked at each other, nodded, then took off, Maria following.

"So, care to explain?" Gear asked, giving Maria another look.

Maria gave a smirk in response, then disconnected the energy flow to the Light Refractor, causing the hologram to disappear, and Static's eyes to widen in shock.

"What?" Maria asked. "Never seen a Reploid before?"

Gear's eyes widened. "No way...those are supposed to be only in video games!"

Maria laughed. "Yeah, well, they're real. And you're looking at the first, unofficial Reploid!"

Static gave Maria a weird look. "Care to explain?"

"I'm a traveler. I go between worlds and help out wherever there seems to be a problem," Maria supplied. "Some time ago, I went to the Capcom section of the universe and helped out Dr. Light and MegaMan in their fight against Dr. Wily. In a strange twist of events, I was wounded as soon as I got there. I melted the bot that did the damage, but it left me with very little energy. So, the Doc hooked me up and sent my life source into this prototype shell. Voila!" She motioned to her orange, red, and gray-armored form with her white gloves, a grin on her face.

Gear frowned as Backpack (the computer) beeped, -No lies detected-

"This is not something that I would lie about," Maria stated, crossing her orange and gray arms over her chest. "Like it or not, I actually know you two pretty well."

"Wait - bot lady say what?" Static was surprised at this.

"Sure. My world can obtain knowledge from other worlds and replays them as video games, TV shows, books, and movies. Why wouldn't I know about you guys?"

Gear exchanged a nervous look with Static, who frowned.

"We should take you to Batman after we dry off," the electric teen decided. He zoomed down to the street below and walked into an abandoned gas station. Gear and Maria followed close behind.

**There! And that is why this story is in the crossover section of the website! Not only are there giant robots, but there are members of the DC-verse, as well!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Been a while, hasn't it, guys?**

**I'm posting because I don't have any homework at the moment (yay! *throws confetti*), so you guys get to see more of what's going on where Maria and her brother Matt are!**

**And Disclaimer: I own neither Transformers: Prime or the Justice League franchise. Those rights belong to Hasbro and DC respectively. And I'm glad that they're there, because I think that I'd probably be making a lot of people mad with story arcs that I'd plan.**

**Chapter 3**

Matt looked around in amazement as he walked out of the Ground Bridge. "Wow. This place is huge."

"Kinda has to be, what with the Autobots' size," Miko responded with a grin. She looked over at the green, round robot that had come to their rescue. "Thanks for the assist, Bulkhead!"

Bulkhead shook his head. "Miko, you shouldn't have run off like that. You could have gotten yourself killed - or worse!"

Miko frowned and crossed her arms over her chest in an annoyed manner. "I just wanted to help..."

"Sometimes, help out there isn't as important as help behind a computer," Matt suggested. "I've run into enough situations when my siblings needed help like that."

"Siblings?" Arcee gave him another look. "You mean there are more of you?"

"Well, not around. The two youngest are staying at home with our parents. My sister and I left a while back on a...cross-country trip. We ended up getting separated, and I don't know where she is now." Seeing the expression on the Autobot's face, he added quickly, "Maria can take care of herself, though. No need to worry about her."

The sound of a drum roll suddenly came from Matt's left pocket, and he pulled out an iPhone with a case that had a jackal-like creature using Aura Sphere with an orange-brown background.

The boy was surprised. "Huh. Never thought I'd get reception here..." He held it up to his ear. "Hello?"

_::Matt! Thank goodness you're all right!:: _came a delighted, relieved voice from the other end.

Matt's eyes widened. "Maria? Where are you?"

_::Dakota City with Static and Gear in their base. Tell me where you are so I can go and pick you up before we head for Mt. Justice::_

"Uh, I'm afraid it won't be that easy..." Matt looked at the Autobots and humans present. "I'm kind of in...well, probably the area you were probably aiming for in the first place."

_::Wait-what?! You're with the robots?!::_

"Yup."

_::Oh, you're so lucky! I'll try to see if I can work my way over there. Until then, try and make friends with them, 'kay?::_

"I'll see what I can do... Say, Maria, do you know anything about powers suddenly appearing to of nowhere?"

The was silence on the other end, then, _::You didn't...shoot, what's a good word..._manifest_, did you?::_

"Kinda. Threw an Aura Sphere at a Con, but I couldn't get it back after that."

:_:...OK. I'm definitely going to see about working my way over there eventually...wherever that is::_ Maria let out a laugh. _::Static and Gear are ready to go. I'll have talk to you later. If you want to call me, talk to me in an hour or three::_ The line was quickly disconnected.

As Matt put his phone back in his pocket, he caught sight of the stares he was getting from the Autobots and humans. "That was my sister. Apparently, she's in that Dakota place you mentioned, Jack."

Jack's eyes widened slightly, but Arcee's optics narrowed.

"There's something about you that I don't trust," she muttered, looking Matt over. "You wouldn't happen to be working with the Decepticon-humans, would you?"

Matt gave the Autobot a curious look. "Who? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Arcee."

Matt's head turned, and his eyes widened as he saw who was approaching. A titanic Autobot colored in red, blue, and silver approached the group.

"Who is this child?" the Autobot inquired in a low rumble.

"My name is Matthew, sir." Matt felt like he needed to add the word out of respect to the Autobot he was looking up at. "My friends call me Matt."

"He was in the woods with the other three when Starscream was chasing them, Optimus," Arcee explained. "He has a sister somewhere in the Midwest, apparently."

The tall Autobot got down on one knee so that he could get a better look at Matt. "What were you doing there, Matthew?"

Matt let out a sigh. He could get the feeling that he wasn't going to be able to lie to this Autobot. "I don't know whether you'll believe this or not..." Letting out another sigh, he looked up into Optimus' stern optics. "My sister and I traveled here from another world because she got the notion that something bad was going to happen. I came along for the ride because I asked. On the way through a portal she'd made, the two of us got separated - I ended up in that forest, while Maria got blasted to Dakota in the Midwest."

"Wait." Matt's attention turned to Miko. "You mean that you're an _alien_?"

Matt looked a little nervous at the thought. "I guess...only, there's pretty much nothing that's different between our two worlds. Other than the fact that the - Cybertronians, right? - exist on this world."

"Are you saying that you're from an alternate Earth?" Raf came forward and gave Matt a curious look.

"I think that would probably be closer to the truth." Matt let out a sigh. "Honestly, this is only the second time that I've gone off-world. Maria would probably be able to explain it better than I ever could, but when she hung up, she said that she was heading for Mt. Justice with Static and Gear, so I don't know if I'll be able to talk to her for a while."

"Mt. Justice?" Arcee gave Matt a curious look. "What kind of a landmark name is that?"

"It's a place that's run by superheroes," Jack replied. "At least, from what we've heard. The mountain's been off-limits to everyone, so we can't even get even half a mile away."

"They must have a good reason, Jack." Optimus stood up to his full height. "Ratchet, I'm counting on you to keep an eye on Matthew."

A red and white Autobot who had been watching from the computers looked at Optimus in alarm. "What? Why me?"

"Bulkhead has me, Arcee's got Jack, and Bumblebee's with Raf," Miko listed, counting off on her fingers. "No one else really have an opening."

"And I'm not exactly from the area, so I don't have any other place to stay," Matthew added. "I can stay out of your way when you need me to."

Ratchet's optics narrowed, but then he let out a grunt and turned back to the computers.

"He'll warm up to you eventually," Miko stated. Her eyes sparked with excitement as she looked Matt over. "Now how about you tell us what your world's like?"

Matt rubbed the back of his head, his eyes trained on the back of Ratchet's. "Well, there's nothing really much to talk about. Our planets are probably the same - right down to their history."

Miko became a little deflated at this, unhappy that there wasn't really anything that she could learn.

"Probably the only things that are different are the Autobots..." Matt paused. "...and how often kids disappear to other worlds..."

"You mean what you and your sister did is common?" Arcee moved to stand next to Jack.

"At least, in our neighborhood," Matt admitted. "I've got a neighbor - a girl named Khrista - who somehow managed to, along with me and my younger brother, get kidnapped and taken to another planet. Now, she's traveled to other places about three times, counting our first run-in, and Khrista's pretty much a walking genetic experiment."

"Genetic experiment?" Ratchet looked down at Matt curiously, the computers left alone. "Do you mind elaborating on that?"

"Uh...sure, I guess. That world we were sent to had creatures that were capable of doing things that the animals here can't - spewing fire, firing beams of energy at their targets - that sort of thing. Khrista got a genetic bath of the DNA of every creature on that world, and now she can use all their abilities whenever she feels like it."

"Is Khrista on your world, as well?" Optimus caught Matt's attention, now.

"No. Well, she lives in our world, but she left for another place before my sister and I did," Matt explained.

Ratchet frowned slightly, going over the knowledge he had been given.

Raf, meanwhile, went over to his laptop. "What were those creatures called?"

"Pokemon," Matt replied. He caught the humans' stares. "What? Of course they exist!"

"It's not that." Raf showed Matt a picture on his laptop. "It's just that you've been describing the events of a video game!" Sure enough, there was a picture of Khrista standing on the front cover of a Wii game case, some sort of energy collection around her hands as her shirt was shifting colors - going from red to sky blue, a yellow Master Ball in the center of her chest. In the background, there was a dark world with Cyrus' Galactic citadel, surrounded by an angry looking green Chinese dragon-creature at the top.

Matt nodded. "That happened in our world, too. Not long after we got home, Khrista was contacted by the Pokemon Company. About a year or so later, they came up with a video game version of what she had gone through. It's gotten to be pretty famous - and Khrista through it."

"I've played through it," Miko admitted. "Not what I had expected."

Matt was going to continue the conversation with his own opinion on the game when the elevator doors near where Ratchet stood suddenly opened.

"Prime!" An African American man with a bit of a belly came out of the elevator, an annoyed look on his face. "We picked up some sort of energy blast in two different places! If those Decepticons are up to something-"

"Excuse me?" The man's attention moved to Matt. "Was one of them in Dakota City?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "Who are you, boy?"

"Matthew White, sir," Matt replied, remembering what Maria had used as an adoptive last name. "My sister and I were traveling to this world, and we were separated by accident. She called not too long ago and said she had ended up in Dakota."

"Matthew, I don't know how hard you hit your head, but that has to be the stupidest excuse of a story that I have ever heard."

"He speaks the truth, Agent Fowler," Optimus stated calmly. "Matthew does not seem to be one who can lie so easily."

Agent Fowler gave Optimus a look of surprise, then let out a sigh. "All right. So, kid - are you part of an alien invasion or something?"

Matt gave Fowler a look of surprise, then burst out laughing. "That's a laugh and a half!" When he had recovered from his laughter fit, he explained, "Maria came here because she sensed that something bad was going to happen, and she let me come along for the ride." He felt everyone's eyes suddenly train on him.

"You mentioned that before." Arcee moved over to Matt and got down on one knee to give the human a closer look. "Would you mind being a little more specific?"

Matt rubbed the back of his neck as he thought back to what had happened in the family kitchen. "Well, she gets these visions once and a while - something about her power core warning her of things to come. This time around...she seems pretty certain that something could happen that would send you guys over to the bad guys. There called Decepticons, right?"

Silence reigned over the base.

"I-I don't know whether she's-" Matt started to say.

"You don't need to try and defend her." Arcee got back up to her full height. "It seems as though she might be keeping something from you. Whatever it is, that's probably the key to this mystery of yours."

"Visions like that are usually portrayed as being pretty vague, though," Raf remarked. "Whatever Maria's seen, she probably hasn't seen the whole picture yet."

Jack nodded in agreement. "That's probably it. Has anything like this happened before?"

Matt frowned. "At least once or twice, I think. This was the first time that I was there when she had one, though..."

"We can probably look into this later." Ratchet was commanding attention again. "Jack, Miko, and Raphael should return to their homes."

"Aw!" Miko tried to give Ratchet a pleading look. "But I want to talk to Matt some more!"

"No buts," the medical Autobot stated sourly. "We don't want your parents to start to wonder when you've been out for longer than usual."

Optimus' gaze moved to Bumblebee and Bulkhead, who quickly transformed into a yellow-and-black muscle car and a green armored truck of some sort. Raf and Miko climbed into the respective cars - Miko sending one last look at Matt before seeing the look Optimus was sending - and Ratchet activated the Ground Bridge, sending the four on their way.

Arcee had transformed into motorcycle mode and Jack was about to climb on when Optimus stated, "Jack. Matthew needs to know of what has happened here since you joined the team."

Jack looked up at the Autobot in surprise. "Me? You could probably tell him just as easily, Optimus."

"I think it would be better that someone of his species handle that."

Jack exchanged looks with Matt as Arcee went back to robot mode. "All right, then. I guess I'll start with the whole zombie problem."

"Zombies?" Matt's eyes widened. "You have _got_ to be kidding."

"Unfortunately, I'm not. There's this substance called Dark Energon, which Megatron used to reanimate dead Cybertronians - like a recently killed Autobot named Cliffjumper. He tried to use it on Cybertron and bring the zombies through a Space Bridge, but the Autobots blew it up before he could. We all thought he was dead by then, but Starscream pretty much -"

"Hey! Slow down!" Matt exclaimed with a half-laugh. "I don't know half the stuff that you're talking about. You probably mentioned it before, but what are Cybertronians?"

"That would be us," Arcee replied. "Both Autobots _and_ Decepticons."

Matt blinked, and a moment later, his eyes widened as the facts hit him. "Are you saying _you_ guys are aliens?"

"You're one, aren't you?"

Matt sighed and shook his head. "Same planet, different dimension." He looked over at Jack. "And Dark Energon?"

"It kinda looks like purple energy crystals or something," Jack replied. "Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, used it to raise the dead. I wasn't there when it happened, though."

"I wouldn't think that you would be." Matt looked over at Arcee. "I'd hate to see what a full-scale battle between you guys gets to be like."

"It doesn't exactly get to be pretty," Arcee agreed.

"So, what happened next?"

"Some time after Starscream took over, the computers picked up a signal coming from outer space - an Autobot life signal. It actually turned out to be a Con disguised as a bot named Wheeljack, but the real Autobot showed up later to kick his can. Wheeljack left, though, but we don't know where he went."

Matt frowned. "Wheeljack?" he repeated. Something about the name sounded familiar... "Is he some sort of crazy scientist or something?"

Jack's eyebrows rose. "Scientist? Wheeljack's a Wrecker, like Bulkhead. They're kind of crazy warriors or something. What made you think he was a scientist?"

"Uh...just a guess."

"He has been known to have some weird ideas once in a while," Arcee noted, "but he's no scientist."

"Oh. All right, then." Matt looked over at Jack. "So, what happened after that?"

**Cutting off there because I've gotta go and do some other stuff...and I don't want to bore you guys with stuff you probably already know about the Prime verse.**

**See you guys later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello. I've got a breach in the college schedule, so I'm posting another chapter a day before the weekend. Maria's moving forward!**

**Also, a disclaimer: I don't own either the Transformers or the Justice League. Just Maria and Matthew...in this story, that is.**

**Chapter 4**

Maria let of a whistle as she, Static, and Gear entered the mountain that was now the Justice League's ground base. She had kept up with the episodes of _Young Justice_ as best she could, but now she could see that the TV show was far behind.

"How many supercomputers are in this place?" Maria asked, her systems pointing out every single plug-in point on the consoles in the area.

"I think there are about...ten." Gear had been warming up to Maria a little over the drive there - especially considering how Maria had explained how the MegaBuster could morph into her regular arm and back. The Reploid had no doubt in her mind that Gear was considering creating a Robot Master of his own - without messing with the copyright laws of that world, of course. "You know, you don't seem to be as excited as I thought you'd be in meeting Batman."

"That's because she's already met him."

The three stopped upon seeing a young man appear out of the shadows and step on front of them. His costume was a pure black jumpsuit, with a dark blue, V-like shape that appeared to have feathers coming up from the center of his chest and stopping at his shoulders. On his face, there was a mask around his eyes, but nothing else was needed.

"Maria," the figure greeted.

"Hey, Nightwing," Mara replied calmly. "How's your group holding up?"

"Fine." He motioned for the three to follow him. "Batman saw you come in. He wanted to speak with you three about something that caught our attention some time ago." He started to walk further into the cave, Maria following without hesitation. Static and Gear, after looking at each other a moment, dashed after them.

At the end of the path, they reached a platform that had what appeared to be a copy of Batman's personal super computer. Standing in front of it was the Dark Knight himself, looking over a map of the world. Certain spots were colored red, while others were dotted with blue or green, causing Maria to frown at their odd placements on the map.

"Hi, Batman," Maria greeted calmly. "What's up?"

"The Watchtower has been picking up strange signals from all across the world," Batman responded. "We're still not sure as to whether or not they are of Reach origin, but I would doubt that, considering what they're busy with at present."

"Some sort of court trial, I'm guessing?"

Static gave her a look. "Now how did you know that?"

"Where I come from, I've got access to all sorts of knowledge, remember? I heard about this incident from a cartoon on my world." Maria stepped forward to have a closer look at the map, frowning slightly at one red dot. "There's one all the way down in Antarctica?"

"Was," Batman corrected. "The green ones are what I'm worried about. They seem to be artifacts of some sort..."

"And the blue ones?"

"Energy deposits of some kind." This time, it was Nightwing who gave the answer. "We found some sort of blue crystal from one of the deposit sites that doesn't match any Earth element." He pressed a button on the supercomputer's dashboard, bringing up a blue crystal on the screen. "When we tried to suck the power from it, it almost caused Mt. Justice to overload."

Maria's eyes went over the data. "It would make sense that would happen. And that it wouldn't match up as an Earthen element." She looked up at Batman. "It kind of reminds me of a power source I've seen a couple times already - one is my power source, and the other is one that exists in the Capcom Kingdom."

Gear blinked, his eyes widening. "Capcom?"

The Reploid looked over at him. "Yeah. You know - MegaMan?" She returned her gaze to the Dark Knight. "One of Wily's bases had that power source in the center. We blew up the whole thing from there out."

"I doubt this came from there," Batman replied. "There are multiple deposits of this energy crystal across the planet."

"Okay..." Maria frowned. "That must mean it was out here by an alien force, but not the Reach. That much I know..." She let out a hiss as a headache suddenly blossomed, and she shut her eyes tightly.

_- Giant robot figures breaking off crystals - large cubes of a glowing blue substance - ENERGON -_

Maria blinked her eyes open, surprise clear on her face.

"Programming issue?" Gear guessed, concerned.

Maria shook her head as she looked back at the teenager. "No. It was a vision of something I'd read before. But, normally I get visions when I already know what's going on...and I definitely don't this time. Something else must be going on that's affecting me." Her gaze returned to Batman, and she stated, "Apparently, the crystals are called Energon, and I was right - it _does_ come from another planet."

"Where?"

"I think it's called Cybertron...and the aliens that use it look like giant robots."

Static gave Maria a weird look; the Reploid could feel his eyes digging into the back of her head. "Are you serious?"

"Completely. There're _definitely_ not the Reach."

"But...giant robots?" Gear frowned slightly. "There has to be another force - maybe someone who created them?"

Maria got _another_ headache, and she let out a hiss as something else slipped into her mind: _- a giant hole in the ground - glowing balls of energy - monstrous metal beings with sentience -_

Maria shook her head. "Their...planet is where they're created."

"Right. I wouldn't have guessed," Gear said sarcastically."

Maria ignored him. "Like...the core splits them off in...sparks." Somehow, the wording seemed right. Looking over at Gear, she added, "They're sentient on their own; a metallic version of us..." Another headache _- shifting-changing-_ "...with...transformation capabilities?"

"You sounded unsure at that last part," Static remarked.

"You try to make sense of the visions I'm getting." Maria let out an annoyed sigh and dug her left thumb into her temples. "It was bad enough the first time I was off-world. I don't know why they've started to pop up so quickly." She shook her head. "At least I'm getting _some_ information that I didn't know before."

"Do you have any idea as to whether they're friendly or not?" Nightwing asked.

"Some are, some aren't," Maria replied quickly. "That much I know for certain. The stories I read off the fan-based website had the words mostly blocked out, but I could make out some things - like how the bad guys pretty much killed the planet in an attempt to get rid of the good guys. Now they're pretty much scattered across the universe, and the ones here on Earth are hiding somewhere on this continent. I doubt there's ever going to be a chance that you'll meet them face to face unless they want you to."

_*Or face to grill, if they're in vehicle mode*_ said a voice at the back of Maria's head.

Batman's eyes narrowed. "What you're saying doesn't help us very much."

"Well, it's not helping me, either," the Reploid replied. "I think all we can say for sure at this point is that if anyone tries to get their hands on Energon, we'll have to stockpile it until we end up running into them sometime." Another thought came to mind, and she added, "Or I could contact them through my brother and have them come over for the Energon. It could go either way."

"Your _brother_?" Nightwing repeated. "Since when do you have a brother?"

"Since he was born before me." Maria gave a slight smirk and a shrug. "I can still contact him by his phone, since it's connected directly to my com-link system. That way, I can tell him if we have any Energon or not." Maria gave Batman a curious look, wondering what the Dark Knight would say in response to her statement.

Batman's eyes narrowed as he looked over at the Reploid, considering her statement. "Fine. But you're going to have to help collect the Energon from the deposits we have discovered." He turned to face the computer again and brought back up the map before zooming in on a blue dot.

Maria shrugged. "Fine by me. Do you have anyplace in mind?"

Batman didn't answer her directly, instead turning his head to look at Nightwing. "Get a team together. I'm expecting you to be back here in a few hours."

Nightwing nodded. "Right." Motioning for the other three to follow him, Nightwing walked away down one of the paths, Maria and the two from Dakota following behind.

"Has anyone tried to go after the Energon other than what you've picked up?" Maria asked.

"We originally found it from a vault that was protected by some of Black Manta's group," Nightwing explained. "If we're going out, I'd suspect that we're going to be going after another one." He nodded to Static and Gear. "You two are going to be helping out, so don't go home just yet."

"Us? Help out you guys?" Gear looked like he was getting jumpy from excitement. Static smirked, also excited.

"Calm down," Maria stated. "We'll need that energy out there."

Gear nodded, but he still looked like he was ready to start celebrating at the prospect.

Nightwing motioned to a door to their right. "You guys can wait in there until I can get the rest of the team together."

Maria gave Nightwing a quick smile. "Thanks." The smile faded. "Just keep in mind that I'm a bit of a habitual fire user. I don't want to end up scaring anyone to death when I start throwing Fire Spheres at whoever we're going against." Ignoring the looks she was getting from Static and Gear, she slipped through the door, finding herself in what appeared to be a kitchen and living room combined. The smile started to play one her face again as Static and Gear entered.

"Why did you tell Nightwing that?" Static asked, frowning.

"I was thinking about a possible teammate," Maria replied, the smile diminishing. "Martians don't exactly like fire." She opened the fridge and started to go through its contents. "Considering I'm going to need my strength..."

"Wait." Gear had Maria's ears, now. "How is it that you would be able to eat any of that? You're a robot."

"Dr. Light adjusted my systems with human habits in mind," Maria responded. "All part of a grand charade that allowed me to keep secret what I was until I deemed it time to tell those around me." She started to pull out ham, Swiss cheese, and a loaf of bread. "You two want to make something? I just need something to make sure that my power core doesn't burn out from all the energy usage."

Maria didn't move out of surprise when Static started pulling out other items using his electro-magnetic abilities. Within moments, the Dakota teen had managed to get himself a pretty thick sandwich.

"I haven't eaten since lunch," he explained between bites.

Gear rolled his eyes and chuckled, then started going through the sandwich-making food items, eventually coming up with his own equally-thick sandwich. Maria made a sandwich, as well, but hers was thinner than the boys - she never did had an appetite like theirs.

"So, you can use fire? Like Hot Streak?" Gear had managed to finish off his sandwich pretty quickly, making Maria wonder how long ago _he_ had eaten.

Maria nodded. "I picked up the ability when I originally started world-jumping, and it's power has increased since. Fire Sphere is my basic attack - besides the MegaBuster, of course - and if I need to, I can increase the power to go into White Flare mode."

"White Flare mode?" Static wiped a bit of mustard off his face with the back of a purple sleeve. "What's that do?"

"A can send tendrils of white fire out at the nearest enemy. I haven't really experimented with it much, since it doesn't really last for long, but so far, I've been able to grab people and throw people around with it...as well as cause a lot of burn damage. For instance, Metal Man, one of Dr. Wily's creations, was melted into a pile of slag just because I really wanted to get rid of him."

Gear's eyes widened. "Wow. That's a lot of power."

"And it takes a lot out of me. If Dr. Light hadn't added a power regulator to my systems, I wouldn't have been able to do much during the Smash Worlds Tournament."

"Smash Worlds Tournament?"

The group's heads turned, catching sigh of an eighteen-year-old boy wearing a black shirt with the Superman insignia entering the room.

"That thing Dick mentioned two weeks ago?" The boy's blue eyes narrowed. "What were you doing there?"

"I was invited, like him," Maria replied. "The name's Maria; I'm going to be sticking around for a few days."

"Connor." The boy tore open the fridge, then gave Static and Gear a glare and slammed it shut. "Dick said that you're going on a mission with us."

Maria nodded. "I told Batman a few things about the Energon crystals, and I think he wants us to go get some more before that Light group can get their hands on it."

Connor raised an eyebrow at this. "Is that what those crystals are called? Energon?"

Maria nodded again. "I know a few people who would be able to use it - people who are on our side, in a way."

"In what way?" Static seemed to be more than ready to jump in and try to get more information on Maria's strange friends.

The Reploid smirked. "Maybe I'll fill in you guys later. These people aren't exactly willing to show their faces in public as often as you do."

"Really?" Maria turned her attention back to Connor, who had crossed his arms over his chest. "The way you're saying it, it sounds like you could be a double agent." The teen's eyes narrowed.

Maria frowned, mentally cursing her incompetence - honestly, she should have known better by this point. "Great. Looks like I've dug myself a pit." She let out a sigh. "I'll tell you guys when Nightwing gets the team together, all right?"

Connor's eyes narrowed further, and the boy nodded. "Fair enough." He walked over to the door. "Dick wanted you to know that we'll be meeting at the command center for debriefing in an hour." With that, Connor walked out.

"He gets to be less distant as you get to know him," Static assured Maria.

Maria let out only a sigh in response. "Why am I getting the feeling that this is going to be a long night?"

**Heh heh. Maria's getting info that she didn't know before... ;)**

**What do you guys think is going to happen in the next chapter? I'd like to see what anyone thinks Maria's going to get herself into...or maybe what her brother in planning. :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! It's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it?**

**Well, school and other events have gotten in the way, but I've got a free night here, so I'm going to post!**

**To recap: Matthew Carlsdale, Maria's older brother, is in the Autobot base and is getting a basic history lesson of what has happened so far in the TF:P world. So, without further ado...**

**Chapter 5**

"...So, after Megatron disappeared, those Decepticon-humans Arcee mentioned showed up?" Matt felt like he was getting more of a grip on this world, now - it sounded as though some events were oddly familiar, though...

"They jumped in only recently," Jack replied. "They've been calling themselves MECH for some reason. When Agent Fowler ended up crashing his plane and asked for help transferring this thing called the Dingus, they showed up and tried to take it. They've been bothering us ever since."

"Huh." Matt frowned slightly. "But what would these people want with the Cybertronians?"

"We don't know." Jack shrugged. "But ever since Megatron ended up coming back, everyone's been on their toes - especially after that whole Reach thing that happened before Megatron came back."

Matt's eyebrows shot up. "Reach?"

"Yeah. Some group of aliens that decided that they wanted to help and make our planet's tech better. Raf thought they were pretty suspicious, and it turns out that he was right. Bulkhead sent one of their ships flying and even helped destroy some sort of metal thing that they had planted in the Arctic when they left." Jack frowned slightly. "I still can't help but shake the feeling that he saw something happen there. He was brooding in a corner for a couple hours, and wouldn't tell us much about what had happened down there."

Matt frowned slightly. "I think I heard something about that... Maria watches all kinds of cartoons at home - and I stumbled in one Saturday morning when she was right in the middle of a season finale."

Jack gave the otherworld visitor a curious look. "What was going on?"

"The Reach were leaving, but they had decided to get rid of Earth by destroying its magnetic field or something. Anyway, these super-powered kids - part of the Justice League - managed to take out most of them before they could do any damage. They found the last one in the Arctic, and it would have caused the whole planet to fall apart if it wasn't for Flash, Impulse, and Kid Flash. According to what I saw, Kid Flash ended up getting turned into energy and he disappeared. Left a girlfriend behind from the look of things, too."

Matt rubbed the back of his head and hoped to sink even further into the fading green couch. Something was bugging him at the back of his head, but he ignored it as he continued with something his sister had thought up. "Although, I don't know whether or not that actually happened here. Maria told me a couple times that what happened on TV could be the Prime Zone, which is an area nobody can get to. Our presences here, or perhaps even other events, could have led to different things taking place, or even events we saw take place in a different order."

"You're giving me a headache!" Jack complained with a laugh. "Well, there seems to be only one way to find out, right? We could ask Maria about her take on the situation."

Matt nodded and grabbed his iPhone from his pocket, but then paused. "If she's in Mt. Justice, then she could be getting ready for something they want her to do. If I know Maria, she's probably going to try to run a couple missions with them before trying to get to us."

Jack frowned. "You think so?"

Matt nodded again, his iPhone going back into his pocket. "She told me that, when she was transformed into a Vulpix, she went through a few mazes and talked to a lot of Pokemon in order to get a feel for what was going on in the area. It would make sense that she intends to do the same here."

"Your sister is smart." Arcee walked over to the platform that the couch was sitting on. "Recon is usually the best way to gain information."

"I think she might have learned that lesson doubly when she was in the Capcom realm," Matt muttered.

"Capcom?" Jack seemed to recognize the name. "You mean the people that made that robot game? MegaMan?"

"MegaMan?" Arcee repeated while Matt nodded.

"Maria had a dream from there a couple months back," Matt explained. "As soon as she got there, she was attacked by some rogue 'bot who hurt her badly. She managed to melt it, but it didn't leave her with much strength. According to Maria, next she knew was that she had been transferred into a prototype Reploid shell and has been in it ever since."

Jack's eyes widened. "Your sister is a robot?"

"She prefers Reploid," Matt corrected. "She said it was short for 'Replicating Android' or something like that. Dr. Light apparently made it so that she could still have her emotions working." He shrugged. "You'll have to ask her in order to get the full story. Whenever we meet her."

"Your family is a strange one, Matthew," Optimus noted as he came over.

"I'm aware of it," Matt replied with a shrug. "The thing I can't stand, though, is that I can't seem to be able to summon the power I hit Starscream with..."

"Power?" Arcee frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Matt threw some sort of energy ball at Starscream," Jack explained.

"Aura Sphere," Matt corrected. "I probably ended up getting some Pokemon DNA or something back when I got taken to that other world... Either that, or I've got something like Maria did."

"Care to explain?" Arcee looked more closely at Matt.

"According to Maria, she somehow managed to access some sort of power when she first went world-jumping. Now she can throw fireballs whenever she feels like it." Matt shook his head out of amazement. "And she got it without any Pokemon DNA in her system, either. Maria claim's it's magic."

"Magic doesn't exist!" Ratchet called out from across the base.

"Tell that to Maria!"

Jack suddenly jumped a little as a beeping noise resounded from his pocket. He pulled out a gray flip phone. "It's Mom. She's probably wondering when I'm getting home." He flipped the phone open and answered it. "Hey, Mom. Yeah, I'm still at the base. No, I'm fine, Mom. Yes, I'll be coming home soon. Bye." He shut the phone and put it back in his pocket as he stood up. "I've gotta go."

Optimus nodded slightly. "Ratchet, activate the Ground Bridge." Jack ran down to the ground floor of the base as the portal activated, Arcee transforming into her motorcycle mode.

"See you tomorrow, Matt," Jack called with a quick wave.

"See ya," Matt replied. He watched as the two disappeared into the Ground Bridge. "If it's all right with you guys, I can sleep on the couch."

"You do realize that we don't have any human food in the area," Ratchet warned.

"I can probably go out with Jack later and get something." Matt made himself a little more comfortable on the couch, taking advantage of being the only one on it. "I can survive until morning."

Optimus looked at Matt for a moment longer before going off to take care of something else that he had to do, leaving Ratchet to look the human over curiously as Matt drifted off to sleep. When he was sure that the human was deep enough in slumber, Ratchet scanned the boy and brought up the results on the built-in screen he had in his arm.

"What are you, Matthew?" the medic murmured.

**Well, there we are. The end of the day for Matthew, and he's got a basic idea of the Transformers end of things...while also having a sense of what's happened in the JLA world. I happen to like the Young Justice TV show A LOT, so I threw in the Reach encounter. I'm trying to figure out something about what happened there to one particular member of the Young JLA...give you three guesses to figure out who. ;) You can either review or PM in order to get the guesses to me - I'm not picky.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! I'm just popping in to give you guys a peek at what Maria's doing now. Don't mind the yell in the beginning; she's just excited. ;)**

**Chapter 6**

"We're going to invade WHERE?!"

"One of Luthor's storage facilities." Batman didn't seem as disturbed as the others when they saw the excited look on Maria's face. "We've been picking up an energy signal identical to that of the natural deposits. I want you to check it out. Flare-Up."

Maria looked at Batman directly, seriousness appearing on her face, as well as repressed excitement. They had agreed on her code-name a couple hours ago - in fact, it was Gear who had suggested it. It was obvious that the Reploid was pleased with her new title.

"I want you to explain about what you know about the crystals," the Dark Knight stated. The data from the Energon crystals appeared on the computer screen behind him.

Maria nodded, then turned to look more at the others. "All right. The energy crystals are called Energon, and they can be used for fuel, but only a certain type of technology can access the energy safely - without causing a power overload. They're called Cybertronians."

"Cybertronians?" Connor frowned. "You have got to be kidding me. That sounds like it came out of a computer game or something."

_"The child has to be lying."_

Maria looked over at a teenager in blue and black armor, who was glancing at his back for some reason.

_"Cybertron _died_ - the Reach watched it happen from afar,"_ the voice insisted.

"Jaime Reyes, please kindly tell your Scarab that there are some of the Cybertronians here. On Earth," Maria stated flatly, her arms across her chest.

The Reploid thought back to the slightly-censored fan-based stories she had read, recalling what it was that the good-guy leader said every time - that war drove them to flee here...

Jaime gave her a look of shock, and the Scarab that made up his armor started to splutter, looking for an excuse or a retort. "H-how did you-"

"You're looking at a mechanical marvel, guys," Maria grinned. "I'm a human who was transferred into a robotic body. Owe my life to the doc who did it."

She looked back at the Energon crystal. "Anyway, Energon crystals appeared here..." _Rockets - maps of stars -_ "...when the Cybertronians sent spoils of war out into the galaxy. Some of it ended up landing here. When their planet died because of their war, those who could split for all four corners of the galaxy, looking for a new home. Unfortunately, the war still continues - the two factions have been trying to extinguish each other since this whole thing started. The one group are the kind of Cybertronian who try to defend all life forms - the bad guys just want to rule and turn everything into a mechanical paradise with those who survive as slaves."

"And what does this Energon stuff have to do with them?" Gear had been going over the energy data before the briefing, and it looked like he was ready to start chipping pieces off the supply and start to try to use it to power his tech.

"I told you already, Gear, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to explain again." Maria shrugged. "Energon is the Cybertronian equivalent of food, blood, electricity... Let's just say that they need it to live in general." Maria rubbed the back of her head nervously, then added, "Also...Cybertronians are transforming robots."

"Robots?" Jamie sounded skeptical.

Superboy snorted. "Ok, now I've heard everything."

"Scarab?" Jamie looked back, trying to prompt an answer from the Reach tech.

_"She speaks the truth, Jaime Reyes. They are a powerful race, and have given Reach allies a butt-kicking in the past."_

"But who would ally themselves with the Reach?" Jamie muttered.

Maria frowned. "It has to be an enemy of the Cybertronians, obviously..." She shook her head. "That doesn't matter now, though. We should probably get back to the mission at hand. If Luthor can figure out how to use the Energon to his advantage, then he'd probably find those other spoils of war that are scattered around the world, and who knows how long the world will survive after that."

Batman looked over at Maria with a narrow-eyed expression, then nodded. "Flare-Up, Static, and Gear are to infiltrate through the ventilation ducts. Nightwing, you and Blue Beetle can take the rooftops. Everyone else will be a ground force."

Superboy folded his arms across his chest and smirked, his gaze turning to the blond-haired girl with a tiger mask, a boy with red hair in a yellow jumpsuit with a red lightning bolt on his chest, and a green-skinned boy in a red-and-white outfit. "All right."

"I don't see what you should be grinning about." Tigress gave Superboy a cold look. "Attacking one of Luthor's facilities could end up attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Especially considering what might be inside."

"We'll have to be prepared, then," Maria responded. She smirked, then looked up at Batman. "When are we heading out?"

"Within the hour." The Dark Knight nodded to Nightwing. "Take it from here." He gave Maria another look, and then walked down a corridor, disappearing into the shadows.

Nightwing nodded. "Right." He nodded to Maria. "I know you're not telling us everything."

"It's not my right to," Maria answered truthfully. "Besides, I know very little. When we meet a Cybertronian face-to-face, though, I'll let you know. They can tell you their own history - I didn't come from their planet, so I don't have the right."

_"You may as well have come from there."_

"Shut up, Scarab."

**Spacial Break**

"Ratchet, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be recharging or something?"

Ratchet looked up from the computers, catching sight of a familiar face. "I could ask you the same, Matthew."

"Just call me Matt. Please." Matthew leaned against the railing, watching the Cybertronian writing on the computer screen. "I can't help but notice that you're interested in my DNA for some reason." He pointed to what appeared to be a schematic of his body - no doubt from the scan that Ratchet had taken. "Why the sudden interest?"

"What you said about that power of yours..." Ratchet motioned to the data. "You appear to have a power build-up in you, but I can't tell as to where it might have originated from..."

"When I used it, it felt like it was coming out of my chest," Matt admitted. "Right when I decided that I needed to protect Jack, Raf, and Miko from Starscream. Gave him a good dent in the wing for it, but the ability didn't come back after that..."

"Hmmm..." Ratchet gave Matt a thoughtful look. "It sounds like you have yet to gain full control of your abilities."

"I only found out about it today. Probably the only way to get me to learn is if there was someone nearby in my situation."

Ratchet frowned, glanced at the computers, then looked back. "You can probably learn how to harness your ability on your own - all we need is a trigger of some sort..."

"A trigger?"

"Something that will activate those abilities of yours..." Ratchet trailed off. "You should get some sleep, Matthew. You need it more than I do."

"I'm used to staying up until midnight, Ratchet."

"My work would probably bore you to sleep."

Matt smirked at what Ratchet had stated in the Autobot's sour manner. "Yeah, you're probably right." He made his way back to the couch. "You should get some sleep too, Ratchet. If the others saw you in an even grumpier mood than normal, it might not be too good for them or you."

Ratchet frowned, feeling a little foolish at being told off by a human. "I can afford going without recharging. Humans can't."

"There are some humans who can live on five hours of rest. Others can even go as far as only needing half an hour." Matt smirked as he lay back down on the couch. "Night."

As Matt fell back asleep, Ratchet gave the screen another careful look before letting out a sigh and putting the computer on standby. He then, after sending one last look at Matt, disappeared into the shadows to power down for the night.

**Well...looks like Maria's doing something, all right. And next chapter, you're going to see her in action. ;)**

**See you then!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Whoa!"

Maria ducked incoming laser fire and sent back an answer with her Buster. Glaring at the figure as they collapsed from the stun attack, she motioned for the two figures behind her to follow. "That guy doesn't look like any one of Luthor's. Have you guys seen anyone dressed like that before?"

Static frowned from his perch on his "flying saucer disk," then shook his head. "Whoever dresses completely in green like that probably is partnered up with Luthor or something, not working under him."

"This tech doesn't look like anything that Light group could have come up with," Gear remarked, taking the laser gun in his hands. "It looks too advanced."

Maria's eyes narrowed as she looked over the figure in front of him. "Well, where there's one, there's probably more." She pressed her left ear and stated, "We're starting to run into opposition over here. A man dressed in green right down to his toes with tech that isn't Luthor's."

There was static on the other end, then, _::This is Blue Beetle! Nightwing and I ran into a couple huge 'bots not too long ago. Scarab called them "Vehicons" or something. Any idea what he means?::_

Maria's eyes widened. "The bad Cybertronians use those as cannon fodder! Those things are as common as mud, but as deadly as attaching someone to a tank and letting them run loose. Keep out of the way of their blaster fire and try to find a way to take them out. And be warned - where there's one, there's usually more."

_::I'll be keeping that in mind::_

"Did you say Cybertronians?" Gear asked, wide-eyed.

"Vehicons," Maria muttered. "The lowest in the corrupted army. The basic soldiers who usually get their Sparks pulled out before their commanders ever do." Her Buster started to glow a little as she sent more energy into it. "We'd better keep moving - if we don't get to the Energon, they most certainly will."

Static took note of the look on Maria's face and gulped. "If looks could kill, yours could kill Batman."

"Not even close. If looks could kill, Batman would still be able to kill me." Maria took out a wall ahead of them with a charged shot. "Let's keep moving. I hate it when people turn into sitting ducks to let the enemy get the drop on them." She continued forward, the Dakota heroes following.

"If Vehicons are the soldiers, where's the commander?" Gear gave Maria a nervous look.

"Commanding them from afar...or somewhere close." Maria set her systems on the alert, having them scan for anything that might match something she had read about the villains. "I'm not detecting any Sparks that might be related to them. Let's go." She led the two down a corridor, stopping short in front of a stainless steel door that looked like it led into a safe. "Hello."

"Do you think this is it?" Gear eyed the door warily while Backpack moved off his back and onto the wall to inspect the lock.

"Only one way to find out." Maria walked forward and stopped at the wall, putting an ear to the door as Backpack started to work at the lock. "Hmmm..." She pulled back and scanned the door. "I wonder if Luthor lined this thing with lead like every other building of his."

"Why would he do that?" Static looked around, frowning.

"Privacy reasons. Luthor doesn't want Superman peering in unwanted."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"Hey! Static!"

A large fireball suddenly struck Static in the back, causing him to fall off the metal disk. Maria's head turned quickly, catching sight of a figure with fire glowing all around him at the end of the corridor.

"Who's your new girlfriend?" the figure asked cockily, a ball of fire forming in his hand.

"I am NOT his girlfriend!" Maria barked. "What are you doing here, Hot Shot? I saw you get arrested back in Dakota!"

"Luthor payed the bail," the teenager replied. His grin faded into a glare. "And it's HOT STREAK!" Another fireball was thrown, but this time it was in Maria's direction.

Maria smirked and shook her head as the attack neared. When the fireball was absorbed into her form, the smirk widened into a grin. "Thanks for the energy boost, Hot Streak!" Fire gathered in Maria's hands, creating a sphere that was as big as herself. "Now _this_ is a Fire Sphere!" She threw it at the unsuspecting Dakota Meta-human, who dodged out of the way as the attack went barreling down the hall.

Hot Streak looked in surprise as his arm - the sleeve of his shirt having been burned off by the blast - and then looked back at Maria. "What? You can use it, too?!"

Maria smirked. "The name's Flare-Up. Nice to beat you!" She fired off a Buster attack, sending Hot Streak flying into a wall, knocked out. "Now that was just too short." She looked back at Gear and Static. "You two all right?"

The two boys nodded, dumbfounded.

"Since when could you do that?" Gear asked. "You just absorbed Hot Streak's attack!"

"I picked it up a few years back," Maria replied calmly. "It's called Flash Fire, and it allows me to absorb fire-based attacks, raising my energy and attack power." She walked over to the steel door just as it creaked open. "All right. Let's see what's past here." She walked forward and pushed the door open the rest of the way, her eyes widening. "By the AllSpark..."

"AllSpark?" Gear gave Maria a curious look as Backpack climbed back up to its resting spot on his back.

"It's what creates the Sparks - the souls - of the Cybertronians." Maria's eyes were as wide as they could go. "But that's not what we're looking at."

Gear and Static looked through the doorway, and their eyes widened.

"What _is_ that?" Gear asked as he tilted his head back, looking up at the whatever-it-was in front of them.

"It looks like a robot with plane wings," Static remarked.

"Not just 'a 'bot with wings," Maria replied. She walked forward and put a hand on the strangely gray armor that covered the right leg of the figure. "This is a Cybertronian."

The Dakota duo looked at Maria in surprise.

"You have _got_ to be kidding," Static stated.

"I'm not." Maria activated her jet boosters and flew up along the giant robot's form and landed on the shoulder before marching over to the right side of the robot's head. Reaching a circular part of the head where an ear might be, she yelled, "Hey! You awake?"

The Reploid didn't get an answer. The Cybertronian didn't even look up or ask for who had spoken.

A frown came over Maria's face. "Something doesn't feel right about this."

"Hey - it looks like there's a door over here!" Static called out. Maria looked down, watching as the electric hero walked over to a door not too far away from the Cybertronian that was chained upright. He grabbed the handle and opened it...only to gag and promptly shut it again.

"What is it?" Maria called down, concerned for her friend.

"It smells like a morgue in there!" Static declared, putting a hand over his nose while also waving the smell away from his face. "All I saw was a bunch of dark purple crystals that looked like a version of that Energon stuff!"

"Really?" Gear ran over and opened the door himself, only to react the same way that Static did. "Yeesh, that reeks! What kind of Energon is that?"

Maria frowned slightly. "Dark purple?" That, plus the fact that both boys had said it stank, made Maria think back to all the video games she and her siblings played at home. "From what I can guess, that could be Energon gone bad."

"Can Energon go bad?" Gear gave a skeptical look.

"It's fuel." Maria shrugged.

"Yeah, but it's a crystal first." Gear looked over at the door for a moment, then looked back up at Gear. "Something tells me that something was done to it."

"If that's true, then -"

_::Nightwing to Flare-Up, Static, and Gear::_ came a familiar voice over the com-link. _::We've got a problem::_

"What is it?" Maria asked, her hand shooting for her left ear. Static and Gear did the same.

_::We found the mine, but the entire area is full of dark purple crystals that is making Kid Flash look very sick. He isn't telling us why::_

Maria flinched. _-glowing purple eyes-laughing in pain-dark purple fluid-_

"It's pretty much Dark Energon," Maria spoke up quickly. "We need to blow this whole place sky high - that stuff isn't good for anybody."

_::Oh?::_

_::That stuff is some baaad mojo, Nightwing. This stuff has to go - now::_

_::All right, all right! Set the charges as close to those crystals as you can. If the regular Energon is explosive, the Dark Energon probably is, too. We'll meet back at the rendezvous point - ETA 15 minutes::_

"Got it, Nightwing." Maria nodded to the boys. "Let's get out of here before this entire place goes."

"Like I'm going to stick around," Gear agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Matt awoke to the sound of Ratchet yelling.

"What gave you permission to access this private channel?! No one is supposed to know-"

_::I am not "no one"::_ came an irritated response.

Matt sat upright on the couch and looked around quickly, catching sight of the angry medic standing in front of a computer screen. It was impossible for him to tell what sort of expression Ratchet had on his face, but just hearing that particular voice was enough to wake the teen up fully.

_::I am a member of a completely organized team that has the right to hack into others' communications arrays if we find the need to::_ the voice continued. _::And that includes the communications arrays of any planetary visitors::_

Ratchet stiffened, then let out a string of mutterings under his breath that sounded like curses.

"Ratchet?" Matt stood up and looked over at the Autobot. "What's going on?"

The medic turned around and looked at the human. "A member of a team of human teenagers somehow managed to gain access to our communications systems and contacted us. The child has yet to introduce himself."

_::My name is Nightwing::_

"Nightwing?" Matthew repeated, his eyes widening. He quickly raised his voice. "You're with my sister, right? Maria? I'm her brother - Matthew."

:_:I'm not with her right now. She says "hi," by the way::_

"Is there any _other_ reason why you decided to hack into our communications besides exchanging greetings?" Ratchet snapped shortly.

_::Yes. Lex Luthor had been keeping a dead Cybertronian above a mine of Dark Energon, which we blew up the other night::_

Matthew's eyes widened. "A _dead_ Cybertronian?!"

"Dark Energon?!" Ratchet repeated. "In a _mine_?!"

_::Yes and yes. Maria - we're calling her Flare-Up - has been trying to find you in order to arrange for an Energon transfer::_

"A transfer?" Ratchet frowned. "What do you mean?"

_::I mean that we have been sitting above a mine of regular Energon and Flare-Up wants it mined and sent to you guys::_

"How much Energon?"

Matthew gave a smirk. Ratchet almost sounded eager there. Maybe they were getting low on Energon - or a surplus just sounded like a good idea.

_::A lot. It's not going to fit in my plane's cockpit, I can tell you that::_

"That doesn't tell me anything," Ratchet growled in annoyance.

_::All right. You're going to need a couple trailers in order to drag it over to your base. Happy?::_

The medic made a spluttering noise, and Matthew had to hold back a laugh. Ratchet probably had a shocked look on his face, but the teenager couldn't exactly tell because all he saw was Ratchet's back.

A moment later, there was the sound of a metal door opening nearby, and Matthew could hear an engine revving.

_::Who's there?::_ asked the voice.

"One of our number returning with their human charge," Ratchet grumbled in reply. "Keep me posted on the Energon mine."

_::Will do::_

Ratchet pressed something on the keyboard just as a familiar motorcycle drove into the room, a teenage figure with a helmet on his head and a backpack on his back sitting in the seat. As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, the figure stepped off and took off his helmet, revealing himself to be Jack.

"Morning, guys," Jack stated, looking up at Matt and Ratchet. Behind him, the motorcycle shifted form, revealing itself to be Arcee.

"Morning, Jack," Matt replied. "You guys just missed some big news."

"What kind of big news?" Arcee asked, walking over to the platform. Below, Jack started to make his way up the stairs.

"Maria found a dead Cybertronian and blew up a mine of Dark Energon," Matt explained, brushing over what he had overheard from Ratchet's conversation.

"An offlined Cybertronian?" Arcee blinked in surprise, then turned to look at Ratchet. "I didn't think that there were others here on the planet..."

"Well, it sounds like they're starting to come here," Ratchet replied. "It doesn't help matters that a man named Lex Luthor was holding her captive before Matthew's sister found her."

"Lex Luthor?" Jack repeated in surprise, dropping his backpack on the sofa. "Wasn't he one of the guys who had an alliance with those Reach aliens?"

"Yeah..." Matthew turned to look at Jack, giving a nod. An idea popped into his head, and he frowned. "Do you think that the Reach might have captured the Cybertronian and given them to Luthor to study?"

"Anything is possible with them," Ratchet muttered in disgust.

Jack pulled a brown paper bag out of his backpack and handed it over to Matthew, saying, "And they found a Dark Energon _mine_? That shouldn't be possible."

"I know," Matthew replied. "Maybe there's something else going on." He opened the bag and pulled out what looked like an Egg McMuffin right as his stomach let out a loud growl.

"I grabbed something from KO Burger on my way over," Jack explained.

"Thanks," Matthew replied. He took a large bite of the sandwich. A moment later, it was quickly finished off.

"And my mom wants to meet you. I told her about where you were from, and she got kinda curious."

Matthew glanced over at Jack and gave a half-shrug. "I don't mind. Gives me something to do, at least."

"Perhaps you have something to do now," Ratchet spoke up. "What do you know about this 'Lex Luthor'?"

Matthew frowned slightly, considering what exactly he could say to those around him without throwing too much out of whack with the universe. He'd heard from Maria that some stories on that fan-based website she and Liz frequented so much had bad things happen if too much was said at one point in time.

"He's not anyone good, I can tell you that," Matthew finally replied, gaining a serious expression. "I don't know as much as Maria does, but I do know this: The guy's got a philanthropist cover so that he can go ahead and do what he thinks needs to get done in order to fulfill his own goals - which mainly involve taking down the Justice League and Superman. He's been at the forefront of every disaster - both as the cause and the relief - and nobody's been able to put him in jail for long. And if anybody tries to make a deal with them, he'll end up double-crossing them."

"It sounds like this human is a version of Starscream," Arcee commented. "If Megatron found out about him-"

"We would be in grave danger indeed," Ratchet spoke grimly. "We are very lucky that Maria made her move when she did."

"And that's not all," Matthew spoke up again. "Mt. Justice is sitting on top of an Energon mine, and Maria's hoping to get the stuff mined and sent in your direction."

A loud drum roll once again came out of Matthew's pocket, and he pulled his iPhone out and checked the caller ID.

"Is it her again?" Jack asked.

"Yup." Matthew slid his finger across the screen and held the smart phone up to his ear. "Hey, Maria. We were just talking about you."

_::Really? Let me guess - Nightwing talked to you guys, didn't she?::_

"Well, to Ratchet and me." Matthew was relieved to know that his guess was correct. "Arcee only just got here with Jack."

_::Who? Sorry, but I don't exactly know the names of the guys you're hanging out with::_

Matthew looked a little embarrassed. "Right. Sorry - I'll have to introduce you later."

_::Actually, that's what I called you to talk about. I want to set up a Facetime video link with the phone through the computers so that I can talk to all of you at once - face to face. Do you think you can do it?::_

Matt frowned, then let out a sigh. "Hang on..." He looked over at Ratchet. "She wants me to connect my phone to the computers so that she can speak to everybody at once, not just me."

Ratchet frowned. "And how do you plan on attempting that?"

"I could probably try to do that."

Matthew turned his head to look down at the main floor of the base, surprised to see that Raf was climbing out of some sort of yellow and black muscle car - Bumblebee, probably. How was it that the two had managed to arrive without him noticing?

"It'll take a little bit of work, though," the twelve-year-old added, pushing his glasses up his nose. Behind him, Bumblebee shifted into his robot mode.

_::Well?::_ came Maria's voice through the phone.

Matt held the phone closer to his mouth. "I'll call to back when it's set up, all right, Maria?"

_::'Kay. I'll be waiting!::_ There was a _click_ as Maria hung up.

Once Maria had hung up, Matt handed the phone over to Raf, who took off the Lucario-themed cover and looked the black iPhone over curiously.

"What model is this?" Raf asked, intrigued.

"The fourth one - without Siri." Matt rubbed the back of his head. "Maria just called and said that she wanted it to get connected to the computers for some sort of video link using the Facetime app."

Raf nodded, then made his way over to the computers, Matt's phone in hand. "Let's see..."

While Raf started to work at the computers - and took out his own laptop in order to see how a video link could possibly be done with the phone - Bumblebee looked over in Matthew's and Jack's direction gave a wave and let out a beep.

Matthew waved back, giving a nod. "Morning, Bee."

The Autobot let out a buzzing noise and took a few steps forward, looking at the boy questioningly.

Matthew blinked in confusion, then shook his head. "Sorry, buddy, but I can't exactly understand you."

The doors on Bee's back drooped in disappointment, and he let out what sounded like a sad beep.

"Done!"

Everyone turned to see Raf grinning in triumph.

"Now you can try and call your sister," the boy added, motioning for Matthew to come over to the computers.

Matthew quickly moved to the catwalk that ran between the entertainment center for the kids and the computers. As soon as he had reached Raf, the twelve-year-old handed him his iPhone, now connected by a cord to the computer system.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Ratchet asked, frowning.

"What do you mean?" Matthew asked, looking up at the red and white Autobot. "This is my sister we're talking about. It's going to be fine."

And before the medic could respond to that statement, Matthew pressed the FaceTime app button on his iPhone, then went straight for Maria's number.

After a few seconds, Maria's face appeared on the screen, a grin on her face. Behind the brown-haired girl's head, Matthew caught sight of what looked like cave walls.

_::Hey! I knew that would work. Gear thought it would take you guys even longer to get it connected, though::_

"It wasn't so hard," Raf spoke up from where he stood next to Matthew. "I mean, they're using human technology while they're trapped here."

Matthew grinned as his sister's eyes widened at the twelve-year-old's statement. He put his left arm around Raf's shoulders in a brotherly manner. "Maria, this is Raf, the resident computer geek. Raf, this is my sister Maria."

"Hi!" Raf waved at the girl.

Maria waved back, a white-gloved hand flashing across the screen. _::Hey. You could give Gear a run for his money in programming, you know that?::_

"I don't know about that." Raf shrugged. "It's probably been at it for longer than I have."

:_:He was hit with the gas that made him smart only a few years ago; I don't think that beats natural talent::_ Maria chuckled, then moved her gaze around the rest of the base. Her eyes widened considerably. _::Whoa. Is this everybody?::_

"We're presently missing one Autobot and his human charge."

Maria's eyes moved over to the red and white Autobot.

_::And you are?::_ Maria asked, cocking her head slightly.

"I am Ratchet." Ratchet inclined his head and narrowed his optics. "Your friend told us that your human friends somehow managed to find a mine of Dark Energon."

Maria's eyes narrowed considerably. _::The only reason we found out about it is because Batman was picking up an energy signal of large proportions over in that general area. I didn't even know it was anything Dark until Static and Gear got a good look at it and declared that the stuff stank. We blew the whole base sky-high, so there shouldn't be any left there::_

Maria's excited look soon returned, however. _::But have a look at this::_ Her head moved to one side, revealing more of the rock wall that was behind her. Sticking out of the walls were large crystals of Energon.

The optics and eyes of those present widened considerably.

Bumblebee let out a whirring noise that sounded amazed.

_::A lot is right::_ Maria stated. _::And this isn't even _all_ of it::_

"Wait a second." Jack dashed up onto the platform and stood next to Jack. "You can understand him?"

Maria blinked, then frowned. _::Yeah. The bot's voice sounds a bit more metallic than Ratchet's did, but -::_

Bumblebee whirred indignantly as his doorwings twitched emphatically.

_::Bumblebee? Huh. Your name suits you::_

Upon hearing Maria's statement, the yellow and black mech looked pleased.

_::So, is it odd that I can understand him...?::_ Maria frowned. _::What is your name, while we're on the topic?::_

"I'm Jack," Jack replied. "And my Autobot guardian is Arcee." He motioned to the blue and purple femme standing behind him and next to Ratchet. The femme gave a nod.

_::Autobot Arcee::_ Maria repeated thoughtfully. _::I see::_

"Among humans, Raphael is the only one who has been capable of understanding Bumblebee," Ratchet stated, motioning to the twelve-year-old. "How is it that you might understand him?"

_::Might have something to do with the fact that I'm not exactly human anymore::_ Maria suddenly looked rather grim. Seeing the looks of shock and surprise, she continued quickly, _::Matthew can explain that later. I called because of the Energon mine Mt. Justice is sitting top of. We have to figure out a good day when -::_

Maria cut herself off, and her eyes widened to the point that they were almost popping out of their sockets. _::Whoa. When the stories I read described your leader as regal, they weren't kidding::_

Matthew and the others turned, catching sight of Optimus standing at the entrance to a corridor.

"Good morning, Optimus," Matthew stated.

Optimus gave a slight nod, then turned his attention to Maria. Taking a few steps forward, he asked, "And who are you?"

_::My name is Maria, sir::_ Maria replied seriously. _::Matthew is my elder brother::_ She blinked for a moment, then smiled sheepishly. _::I...don't exactly know your name, sir::_

"I am Optimus Prime," Optimus replied. He frowned slightly. "What is this I hear about Energon?"

Maria raised a hand, revealing a white glove, a gold bracelet on her wrist, and bright red armor, then jabbed with a thumb at the crystals behind her. She then explained, _::There's an Energon mine right under Mt. Justice, a base of sorts in a mountain off the East Coast. I hoping to arrange for the stuff to be picked up when we've got it all mined out::_

"Maria, humans near Energon could cause bad reactions to their biology," Ratchet warned.

_::Batman figured that out already, but he won't tell me_ how. _So he's got Superboy down here getting started. Nightwing told me the other two Kryptonians and maybe Martian Manhunter would be stopping by in order to get the rest::_

Maria frowned for a moment, then added, _::Batman's got a tracking device that's been keeping an eye out for alien signals. Some of them are similar to Energon, but there are others that he thinks are artifacts of some kind. I'd kind of like to go hunt them down, but I don't think the Dark Knight or Nightwing's team are going to let me out of their sight so easily::_

Optimus' optics narrowed. "I had suspected that there would be artifacts from Cybertron on other worlds, and perhaps on this one. Are you aware of how many there are?"

_::It's too soon to tell. Batman, for all the technological advancements he's made with his computers, told me not too long ago that sometimes the signals are duds and that others seem to appear to be flickering across the map for no particular reason. My guess is there are at least five artifacts in the area, maybe more::_ Maria looked worried about this. _::If we can't find them first, then who knows who would manage to get their hands on them::_

"Your brother mentioned that you thought something bad was going to happen to us," Arcee spoke up suddenly. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Care to explain?"

Maria frowned, then let out a sigh and gained a look of annoyance. _::Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything further yet. All I know is that, in an eventual future, something is going to happen that's going to possibly destroy the planet's civilization, and the Cons are very much involved::_ She ran a gloved hand through her brown hair, revealing that she had gray armor from her elbow to her shoulder, most likely. _::If I learn anything more, I will let you know as soon as I can::_

Arcee glowered, but gave a nod. "Good."

"So, about these powers of mine..." Matthew spoke up suddenly. "Any idea on how I can get them under control? I've only used them once, and that was to give Starscream a dented wing."

_::A dented wing? Wow, there must be a lot of power packed into you, then!::_ Maria chuckled a little, amused at the idea. :_:The only suggestion I have is try and remember how you felt when your powers activated, and get a training area set up so that you don't break anything by accident::_

"Your powers are dictated by _feelings_?" Ratchet couldn't exactly believe what he was hearing.

_::It's the only thing that particularly makes sense. My fire powers activated originally when I was angry::_ Maria help up a hand, and a fireball appeared there before dissipating. This got looks of shock, but the girl didn't seem at all surprised upon getting them.

:_:I've used them enough times that I can access it directly without the emotional trigger, but I can't do White Flare without getting really mad still::_ Maria shook her head. _::Enough of that. Have the other guys been giving you trouble lately?::_

"Nothing yet," Matt replied. "Although, seeing Starscream in the middle of a forest by himself was curious..."

"He defected from the Decepticons some time ago," Arcee explained, "although we're not sure as to why."

Maria blinked, and Matthew was sure that she was filing away the term "Decepticon" for use at a later date._ ::I _think_ someone with that name has done something like that before, but only when he doesn't want to get killed by that head honcho of his::_

"I think he ran from Megatron after the Energon mine collapsed and MECH tried to take us out," Jack suggested.

Maria looked curious. _::MECH? Megatron?::_

Before she could say anything more, she flinched and closed one blue eye. A gloved hand came up and Maria started to rub the side of her head like she had a headache. A disgruntled look appeared on her face not long after.

_::MECH wouldn't happen to be people that wear weird green jumpsuits and giant black goggles, would they?::_ she asked in a low growl.

"Yeah, that's them," Arcee stated, nodding. "How did you know?"

_::I think they may be in cahoots with Luthor. Static, Gear, and I ran into one of them on our way through Luthor's building. There were a couple Vehicons, too, but Blue Beetle ended up taking down those with Nightwing::_

"Really?" Matthew blinked in surprise. "How?"

_::I don't know, but it sounds like Blue's armor may know more about the Cybertronians than meets the eye - which didn't actually happen in the TV show, since you guys weren't there...::_ Maria trailed off into a frown, then looked over her shoulder. _::Nightwing's coming. I'd better disconnect before he sees who I'm talking to and I'm forced to tell him about you guys. I'm going to try and keep your identities - and base - secret for as long as I can, but the Justice League is probably going to figure out about you guys eventually::_ Looking back at the group in the Autobot base, she added, _::I'll call back when we've got some of this stuff mined out for you guys::_

"We appreciate what you are doing, Maria," Optimus said calmly.

_::It's no problem on my part::_ Maria grinned at the group, then severed the connection.


End file.
